About Us

BluesMates, which consists of Novan Hardison (Lead guitar and lead vocals), Rio (Piano, keyboards and vocals), Kenthus (bass), and Refly (drums), have been regulars of the Surabaya music scene for over 3 years and they’re on a mission to make the world discover and enjoy their own brand of powerful, yet expressive Rock ‘n Blues.

This is a mission that BluesMates are well on their way to accomplish with such performances under their belt as their present success on the televised talent show Rising Star Indonesia airing on RCTI and their appearance at the Blues In The Arts Bandung Blues Festival in September 2013 (BITA 2013), where they performed with none other than the world-renown Blues Harp player, Hari Pochang. Other achievements to be noted are Novan Hardison’s success in the televised contest The Voice Indonesia on Indosiar, in 2013, where he was part of Glenn Fredly’s team. This was followed by a live televised performance where Novan Hardison traded guitar licks with Gugun while performing a tribute to the legendary band Koes Plus with Gugun Blues Shelter for the Rumah Musik show, also on Indosiar. Other notable performances include opening for the Sandy Winarta Jazz Quartet in 2011 and a weekly appearance on the Kompas TV morning show “I Love Jatim” over the period of nearly one year.

The boys are also an important part of the Surabaya night life with regular performances in such venues as The Maj, The Sheraton, Center Stage, Matchbox Café, SAS Café, Elbow and Rodo Coffee Shop. BluesMates’ achievements further include frequent appearances at special events such as the JATIM Fair where they opened for such prominent acts as Andra and the Backbones, the MikroMart Fair at SUTOS, the Surabaya Great Expo and the Surabaya Indie Clothing Expo. Other performances worth mentioning include many appearances at festivals hosted by local universities such as STIE Perbanas, Universitas PGRI Adi Buana (UNIPA) and Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) to name but a few, and they even performed for the US Independence Day at the American Embassy in Surabaya in 2012. The boys can also be seen playing a spontaneous jam at small cafés throughout the town to the delight of all patrons and café managers alike.

BluesMates is presently in the process of writing songs for an upcoming album to be released sometime in 2015. Following this, they hope to tour Australia and South-East Asia in order to promote it.

Here is what people say about our boys:

“You (Novan) are awesome” – Sherina

“Indonesia needs inspiration from people like you (Novan)” – Glenn Fredly

“The first time I saw Novan in the Blind Audition, you (Novan) and your guitar are like soulmates.” – Glenn Fredly